The Rapture
by Mr. Voland
Summary: The world after Third Impact. The blind will lead, and the mad will govern. Post apocalyptic setting, multiple characters.
1. Prelude

**Day 1**

I´m writing this in an emergency shelter. Plenty of food, and away from that giant eye that stared at me wherever I went. Getting to the shelter after waking up on the beach wasn´t the hard part. Keeping my sanity was. Red waters. Smell of blood. Horrid crucified silhouettes in the distance. Maybe I´m in hell. Was the first thing I thought: death took the shape of my ex-wife, and I died after embracing her. On my way to the shelter, I passed by several apartment blocks. Not a single soul. No fighting over loot, no desperate calls from mothers searching for their children, no groans from the wounded. Just silence. It chills my heart to think I´m the only one left.

I wonder what happened during the assault on Nerv HQ to cause such a cataclysm. Maybe it was an act of God. Punishment for our sins. I´ll probably never know. For now, I just want to rest. There´s a whirlwind of images and voices going through my head from my waiting in the Purgatory. But I can´t seem to focus on any of it. Must sort out my current situation first. Then I can find answers.

Maybe if I fall asleep, it´ll all be OK again.

**Day 3**

Finally met another human. Two to be exact. Don´t think I´ve ever felt so glad at seeing people. A young man, goes by the name of Michishige Kazuma. Looks like a civilian to me, not a JSSDF or NERV crew. Tall, jet black hair and keen eyes. Keen but not sly. I like that. Says he used to be a paramedic (very valuable!). The little girl that always holds his hand can´t be older than 6. Doesn´t speak. Kazuma says he found her wandering through the docks. Interesting fact, he also woke up at the beach. Doesn´t remember jack shit either of what happened, just memories of before the Rapture.

We decided not to venture deeper into what´s left of Tokyo 3, and stay close to the beach. Hopefully we find more people in the next few days. We set camp in the shelter I´ve been staying in. There´s still enough tinned food and bottled water to last us for a good four months.

**Day 4**

Kazuma and the girl found another two, I found an old man at the beach. Dr. Barry, engineer at NERV. Saw my uniform and freaked out. I finally managed to calm him down, showed him I wasn´t armed and had no intention to harm him. The man´s mind has been severely scarred. Completely paranoid. Still, he´s staying with us. The two Kazuma found were a woman in her 40s and a teenager. I don´t think the woman has come to terms with what has happened yet. Refuses to believe this is the new world. Doesn´t talk to us, just sits there and smiles and mumbles to herself. The kid is called Fujimoto Tadayoshi. Bright lad, very helpful. Has an impressive ability to adapt. Told him to take care of the woman and Dr. Barry at the shelter while Kazuma (and his inseparable girl) and myself keep looking for more people on the beach.

**Day 7**

I heard gunshots in the distance today. Our little group is now 13 strong. During the last couple of days, we´ve found more people at the beach. A JSSDF special forces commando and a captain on day 5. They both outrank me, but the commando seems to have lost the will to thrive in this post apocalyptic world. The captain, Matsuo, seems happy to leave me in charge. The man reminds me of my 1st lieutenant. Green as grass, but humble. Fast learner too. Day 6, we picked up two NERV personnel and a civilian male. The NERV people might be a problem. They aren´t armed but they aren´t cooperative with anyone wearing a JSSDF uniform. Would probably be a good idea to get all JSSDF to change into civilian clothes. One of the NERV people, Nakamura Miharu, punched Matsuo when he tried to help her up. Whether it´s because she didn´t want to be touched or because he was JSSDF, I don´t know. Probably both. The man we didn´t find at the beach, he stumbled into the shelter. Tadayoshi brought him to me in a terrible state. Dehydrated, malnourished and confused. I guess not everyone can survive on their own in a world like this. By the end of today, we found another NERV personnel and a woman. Both are in good state, both physical and mental.

With our increased numbers, the food and water in the shelter won´t last for long. I´ve grouped people into a couple search parties hunting for food, water, and basic needs. Dr. Barry suggested it´d be a good idea to stock medications and clothing. The man seems to feel a lot more comfortable around me now he´s convinced I´m not going to execute him. I also indicated Matsuo and one of the NERV personnel, Ishimaru, to search for weapons and ammunition. Not sure it´s a good idea to stockpile weapons with tensions between the NERV and JSSDF crew, but today´s gunshots don´t make me feel safe.

**Day 8**

Matsuo brought me a couple of teenagers today. Told me they were the VIPs. Didn´t realize what he was talking about until I recognized their faces. The boy seems OK, very shy. Won´t make eye contact with me. The girl seems slightly catatonic. Only talks with the boy, and that rarely. Spends most of her time staring into the emptiness, barely eats. They are being taken care of by the Nerv people. I want answers, but in their current state, I don´t think they can give any.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

"Aren´t you going to eat anything?"

Asuka snapped out of her trance and looked down. A tray with some baked beans, spam and preserved peaches lay at her feet, untouched.

"I´m not hungry," she mumbled, without looking at the boy. "You can have it".

"But Asuka...you have barely eaten anything for a week!"

The redhead finally looked at the source of that annoying voice. Shinji Ikari. The idiot. The moron that should´ve been the first to die. Asuka couldn´t remember what she saw in the frail teenager sat next to her. Probably just hormones.

"Why did you bring me back?" she asked. The boy flinched at her accusing tone, as if slapped. "Why didn´t you pick the doll instead?"

"I...Asuka..." the Shinji stuttered, "You were the first person I thought about!"

Matsuo observed the teenage couple bickering in the distance. It was the first time he´d seen the girl talk loud enough for someone aside the boy to hear. He sat back against the wall and smiled. To think that, a week or two ago, he´d have shot both of them point blank without even blinking. Them, and any of the Nerv people. Yet now, they slept and ate under the same roof. The irony. The captain glanced at Ishimaru. His jaw still hurt when he chewed, and the girl had yet to attempt and apologise to him. Their trips to the geofront had mostly been silent. She´d point at an area and suggest searching there, and he´d agree. The rest of it would be in complete silence, each immersed in their own thoughts. Matsuo couldn´t help thinking back to his days in West Point, 2 years ago. Only now did he appreciate what he had back then.

The captain finally stood up and made his way towards the kids, zig zagging salvaged mattresses and futons. In the dim light, he could see the girl had turned her back on the boy, who was still attempting to get her to eat her meal. Matsuo didn´t like the boy. He was one of those he´d class as "spineless"

"Looks like you two are better now," he said as he stood by the boy. "Time for you to meet Gunny."

"Gunny?" the boy asked startled. A feeling of disgust ran through Matsuo as he heard that voice filled with insecurities.

"Yes, Gunny. The gunnery sergeant. The man in charge." Matsuo paused for a moment, looking at the redhead. She showed no signs of hearing a word of what he just said. "Help your friend up, will you?"

At this, the girl turned around and glared at Matsuo. For a second the captain felt threatened, suppressing an urge to reach for his sidearm.

"I don´t need no help from that idiot," she snapped as the boy attempted to grab her arm. "I´m perfectly capable myself."

Matsuo lead them outside the shelter, walking in front of the girl while the boy trailed behind her. As the captain stepped outside, he remembered how he still wasn´t used to this new world. The sky was no longer dark at night, but a scarlet colour, the stars decorating this red mantle. In the horizon, the giant eye in a sea of red stared at Matsuo. Sat in leather armchairs, Dr. Barry, the Nerv engineer, and Gunny were silhouetted against the sky.

"Hope I´m not interrupting," Matsuo said as he approached the two men. Gunny looked up, and Matsuo saw the assault rifle in his lap. Dr. Barry was fast asleep, head resting on a fist.

"Not at all," Gunny answered. He was in his late 30s, in excellent shape. Tanned skin, and the wrinkles appearing on his face made him look a lot older. The man sported a shaved head. Although he had told Matsuo it was his "prefered" haircut, the captain suspected it was more due to the fact that he was balding.

"Looks like these two are ready to have a little chat with you," Matsuo nodded at the two children.

"Let´s have the introductions first. I´m Gunny. JSSDF, 4th Rocket Artillery Dvision, 11th Brigade, Havok battery. I´m the man that runs things around here. Mastuo, who you´ve already met, is my 2nd in command." Gunny paused for a moment, looking at Shinji and Asuka. "Now you".

At this, Shinji opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Asuka.

"I´m Hikari Horaki, and he´s Toji Suzuhara."

An awkward pause followed as Shinji stared at Asuka in disbelief, not understanding why she´d say such a thing.

"Uh...yeah," Shinji finally managed to babble. "We are middle school students."

"I see..." Gunny gave a slight smile and stood up. "Welcome to our group, Toji Suzuhara and Hikari Horaki. Head back and get some rest, tomorrow you will start your duties within the group. Matsuo here will assign you later on."

The captain and Gunny watched the children walk away and head back inside the shelter, the red sky casting an unnatural shadow after the couple. Finally, Matsuo broke the silence.

"They are lying," he said. "Trying to hide their identities from us."

"Indeed," Gunny replied, "and I don´t blame them. The answers will have to wait."

The man turned around to gaze at the nine mutilated corpses crucified along the coast. He was getting used to the smell of blood, but he´d never get used to that giant staring eye.

"Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu...they know a lot more than we ever will."

Michishige Kazuwa sat in a sofa atop the ruins of a house, watching the waves roll in. He was a man in his early twenties, and his body reflected the fact he was in the prime of life. Unlike many of his friends, he didn´t dye his hair or wear contacts in an attempt to look more caucasian. Lying next to him, a little girl, his companion, was fast asleep curled up holding his free hand. His other hand was around the barrel of his assault rifle, propped against the sofa. It was his turn to stand guard, and the girl would not allow him to leave her with anyone else.

Kazuma stared into the distance as he pondered how drastically everything had changed. A week ago he was still driving his ambulance through Tokyo-3, getting payed for his services as paramedic. Life was different from what he could remember as a child, before Second Impact. But it was still routine. And routine took things off his mind. Now, the world had changed. Again. His mind was in turmoil, and he couldn´t even get his thoughts straight. Before, there was no need to think about a future. He had his job, he could support himself, he could go back home visit his parents every now and then. That was all he needed to think about. In this new world, there were so many unanswered questions, matters which worried him and scared him. He admired Gunny for his ability to put things aside and focus on their present situation. He admired Matsuo for his ability to plan ahead with a clear mind, without fear of failure. However, he, Michishige Kazuwa, did not have such gifts. What troubled him even more, were the two days of time he seemed to have simply lost. The two days prior to waking up were completely blank except for some voices he was unable to understand. Whenever he looked back and tried to remember, all he´d get was an unintelligible jumble of voices overlapping each other.

The young man eventually looked away from the hypnotic rolling of waves, and looked down at his companion. He still knew nothing about her. The girl wasn´t deaf, and he was pretty sure she wasn´t mute. However, she still hadn´t spoken a single word, or made a single sound. The girl had never let go of his hand, from the moment he found her lying next to him on the beach. Kazuwa himself had gradually grown fond of her during the course of the week, taking care of her as if she was his little sister. Gently squeezing her tiny hand inside his, Michishige Kazuwa continued watching the waves roll in.

Asuka and Shinji sat back down on their mattresses, Asuka going back to her isolation. For a while, the couple sat in silence, until Shinji could no longer keep his questions to himself.

"Why did you lie to them?" he asked the redhead. Shinji felt guilty for lying to the people who had given them food and refuge, but not guilty enough to refuse playing along with Asuka.

"You really are stupid, aren´t you?" Asuka replied in a flat tone. Deep down, Shinji missed her temper, her outbursts of shouting and rage. Now, she´d still insult him, but the insults hurt a lot more when they were so emotionless. "Why did you think I changed out of my plugsuit into normal clothes? We can´t let people know we are Eva pilots."

"Asuka?"

"What?" she answered slightly irritated.

"I need you" Shinji cleared his throat, at this point, voice slightly trembling. "I brought you back because I need you."

Asuka´s silence prompted Shinji to add a quiet "Don´t leave me," after which he lay down in his own mattress. Behind him, silent tears slowly ran down Asuka Langley Soryu´s cheeks.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Psalm 130:5

_I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,_  
_and in his word I hope. . . ._

Nerv´s geofront resembled a giant ulcer Tokyo 3 suffered from. At least, that´s the first comparison Misato Katsuragi came up with as she looked through the car window. It was the first time she saw it like this, hard to believe that this was where she used to work at. Most of the geofront was exposed, and what was once green and peaceful was now ash gray and dead. Debris littered the area, and a circle of ruined buildings stood looking into the geofront, witnesses to the horrors of the massacre that took place at Nerv HQ.

Misato, like everyone else going through the Awakening, could barely remember a thing of her personal Rapture. When trying hard to remember, all that would come was strangely, Rei´s image along with nonsense whispering. The major soon gave up trying to remember, prefering to avoid seeing the ghostly image of Rei, even if it meant staying in the dark. More pressing matters were at hand, and different to thousands of others, Misato wasn´t just going to give up and die.

Unlike Gunny´s group, she had woken up on the other side of lake Ashinoko, closer to what once was Togendai. Tokyo 3 was largely vaporised by the N2 mine, but Misato managed to find refuge and nourishment in a nearby village. The japanese government had recommended civilians to stockpile whatever food they could, and Misato was glad most people had followed said recommendation. Can upon can of spam, beans, fruits and other preserved foods could be found in the basements of most houses, and water purification tablets weren´t scarce either. But as the major swallowed the first mouthful of food, gag reflexes kicked in. She didn´t know exactly how long she´d been lying unconscious on the beach, but it was obviously long enough for her to be unable to eat normally.

"Can´t you drive faster?"

"This is as fast as we can go."

Misato groaned and sat back, stealing a glance at the driver through the rearview mirror. A young man in his early 20s, dark brown hair and eyes. Had he worn a Nerv uniform, Misato would´ve mistaken him for Aoba. She ran into him just a day after her awakening, while scavenging through the village. The man, Tatsu Koyashu, had surprised Misato from behind. Luckily for him, she wasn´t carrying her side arm, and his hand suddenly landing on her shoulder was answered by a quick elbow to the stomach, followed by the major´s fist making contact with the side of his head. However, Misato´s reaction wasn´t over the top; she was lucky Tatsu wasn´t a trigger happy freak sneaking up on her.

Tatsu told the major very little about his past. The man wasn´t exactly a role model to follow, but he wasn´t a sociopath either. He had told Misato that he grew up rough on his own, and had managed to make it until now, working several different jobs. What he didn´t tell Misato, is exactly how rough it was.

Tatsu had grown up with his mother, having never met his biological father. At the age of 8, his mother remarried to a man named Nakajima Tomohisa. What his mother saw in that man, Tatsu still didn´t understand. Tomohisa had no job and spent all day at home, drinnking cheap beer and watching TV while his mother worked two jobs. From the day he stepped into the Koyashu home, Tatsu had started to have rather peculiar "accidents". The boy would go to the doctors with his stepfather, who´d say he´d "accidentally tripped and fallen down the stairs" or "was playing and ran into the corner of the table". Tatsu always suspected his mother and the doctors knew, but would turn a blind eye. His mother was too scared of the man she´d let into home, and was powerless to make him leave. The doctors however, followed the idea that "if I can´t see it, then it ain´t happening".

This continued until Tatsu reached the age of 13. One afternoon, upon arriving home from school, he heard the muffled sobs of his mother as he stood outside the door to his own home, now turned into a hellhole. That night he did not come home, calling his mother to tell her he´d stay at a classmate´s.

The next day, as Tatsu´s mother came back from work, she found the apartment door locked, much to her surprise. As she entered, there was no TV at full blast with the game on, no beer cans littered around the floor, the flat sparkling clean. More importantly, Tomohisa was nowhere to be seen. She never saw that man again, and she never saw her son again. But month after month, she´d receive a letter from him, a letter asking her how she was, and along with it, whatever amount of cash the boy could send home.

Tatsu drove the 4x4 through the ruins and rubble, Misato in the backseat holding on to the handles to avoid bumping her head against the ceiling. She had been driving for most of the morning, and now Tatsu had taken over the wheel to give her a break. According to him, she could "take a little nap in the backseat. it´s comfy enough there", ignoring the fact that what was most likely to happen is Misato bouncing off the seats every few seconds. The 4x4, a Toyota Land Cruiser, wasn´t exactly latest generation, but it had a full tank and was still functional. Tatsu was careful driving over the debris of what once was the heart of Tokyo 3, avoiding areas where the vehicle could be potentially trapped. The man obviously knew what he was doing, so Misato soon let her mind wonder.

It had been 6 days since she met Tatsu, 7 days since she woke up on the beach. They had started moving towards the geofront two days after meeting, first on foot and then by car. She thought about the children. She didn´t know what happened to Shinji and Asuka, and she still didn´t know where Rei was at the time of the attack. She thought about the commanders and Ritsuko. She didn´t know their fate either. She thought about Kaji.

_Kaji._

The man she had loved and still loved disappeared from her life just as he walked into it, leaving a hole where Misato´s heart should be. Just like her father.

"Misato"

The major snapped out of her thoughts, just then realizing that they had come to a stop. Tatsu had stopped the car at a crossroad littered with debris, nothing which the SUV couldn´t easily overcome.

"Why are we stopping?" she asked Tatsu as the man slowly climbed out of the vehicle.

"Look ahead"

Misato looked beyond the crossroad, but could only see a white van parked by the road. It wasn´t blocking, and she wondered why Tatsu would be so bothered by a vehicle parked at the side of the road. Then she spotted the problem.

Behind the van, amongst a couple of crates, stood two individuals, rifles trained on the oncoming SUV.

Misato slowly got out of the vehicle, hands up palms facing forward, showing she wasn´t armed. Tatsu followed in manner.

The two riflemen slowly advanced towards them, weapons still raised. Misato soon saw that they were a man and a woman, both wearing armour over their clothes. The woman was wearing a pair of jeans over her boots, while the man wore fatigues tucked into army boots.

"Hands over your heads," the man ordered. Misato detected a tinge of anxiety in his voice, but she was unable to see the man´s eyes which were behind sunglasses.

As Misato did as told, the woman slung her rifle around her back, unholstered a revolver and began searching her thoroughly, after which she began searching Tatsu, all while the man kept his rifle on them. After verifying that both were unarmed, the man lowered his rifle as Misato and Tatsu lowered their hands.  
"We are very sorry about that," the woman said while holstering her revolver, "but we can´t take our chances." She smiled at Misato and Tatsu, a heartwarming smile that soon broke the tension between the two groups.  
"I´m Nakamura Miharu. This here is Matsuo"


End file.
